


Let It Snow

by yuletide_archivist



Category: The Real Ghostbusters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-16
Updated: 2006-12-16
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:04:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1638047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Really, all Janine wanted was a plain, ordinary birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let It Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Kind thanks to Josan for the beta! :-)
> 
> Written for Settiai

 

 

It was Ray she saw first. He was rushing out the door as she was coming in, and she only had a brief glimpse of a sunny smile and hurried, "Hi, Janine," before he was gone.

She shook her head and walked into the firehall, closing the door firmly behind her. Ecto was gone--she recalled that Winston had some plans today, too; a car show, she thought.

The firehall was silent around her as she made her way to her desk. No doubt Egon was in his lab, immersed in his latest mold experiments, and Peter, the lazy bugger, was probably still in bed. Business had been slow lately, after the previous month's Christmas rush, and the Ghostbusters had been taking advantage of their down time to pursue their various hobbies. Even Slimer had taken off on some strange errand of his own.

Which left her to mind the store and catch up on her paperwork, she supposed with a grimace. A secretary's work was never done. Even on a day like this one.

The peace and quiet continued and she managed to get a surprising amount of work done. Just as she was considering stopping for lunch, she heard the murmur of voices upstairs. She stood up and stretched before heading up to say hello.

As she expected, she found Peter Venkman sitting at the kitchen table, still in his pajamas, his dark hair tousled, waiting sleepily for the coffee in the pot to finish brewing.

"Hey, Janine," he said, stifling a yawn.

"Morning," she said, snagging a cup and stealing the first of the coffee for herself. She ignored his protests and turned instead to smile at the man sitting opposite Peter at the table.

"Good morning, Egon," she said brightly.

"Janine," Egon Spengler said with a nod. He was impeccably dressed and groomed, as always; a far cry from Peter's disheveled state. "Many happy returns of the day."

Janine's cheeks grew warm, for once not because Egon had paid any particular attention to her but because she'd been hoping to keep the day low-key.

Though she was glad that at least one person had remembered.

Peter's eyes had gone wide and he was looking at her with something like panic. "Janine!" he said. "I'm sorry, I forgot... Happy birthday!"

She smiled ruefully. "Thanks, Doctor V."

Peter was looking at Egon now, but the physicist was no help, biting placidly into his sandwich and not assisting his teammate one bit.

"Well, Jeez," Peter said at last. "You should have taken the day off, or something."

"If I'd wanted to take the day off, I would have," Janine said. "But really, I can't think of a better way to spend the day than catching up on paperwork."

Peter grinned. "Well, in that case, I've got a box of old invoices downstairs that need to be filed. I could even wrap it up for you, if you want."

Egon stood up and rinsed his empty plate, leaving it in the sink. "Ignore him, Janine," he said. As he passed her, heading back to his lab, he paused and, almost shyly, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

If her face had been flushed before, it was scarlet now. Peter was staring after Egon with a bemused expression.

Downstairs, the phone began to ring.

OoOoOoOoO

Two hours later, Janine found herself scrunched into the cramped back seat of her Volkswagen, trying to hold steady while being pounded on either side by proton packs, wondering what in the world she'd got herself into.

The pone call had been from a client who had a desperate ghost situation. No, he couldn't wait for the two other Ghostbusters to get back. Yes, he'd be willing to pay extra for prompt service. Service that, as it turned out, involved busting a ferocious fanged ghost in a swanky winter resort complex upstate.

Peter had assured their client that the Ghostbusters would do everything they could. After he'd hung up, he'd looked at Egon. Egon had looked at Peter. Then both of them had looked at Janine.

"Oh, no," Janine had said.

But of course she hadn't been able to say no to Peter's charming smile or Egon's blue eyes. She'd joined them on busts before; she knew the procedure and how the equipment worked.

And, while Winston was away with Ecto, she was the only one with a car.

With only a faint feeling of impending doom, she'd sighed and said, "Okay, fine."

And now here she was, trying to keep her balance, not to mention the contents of her stomach, in check while Peter negotiated the winding country roads, Egon calling out the occasional direction from behind the folds of a map.

"It should be just over this next rise," he was saying, and Janine could have wept with relief. Never again, she swore, would she let Peter Venkman anywhere near the driver's seat of her car.

They passed over the rise and swept past a faded sign that said 'Cedar Cove Resort and Campground'.

"Swanky resort, huh?" Peter said dryly as he parked. They stepped out of the car and looked around in dismay. All around them were run-down old cottages, their roofs white with a thick layer of snow. A path led down to an ice-covered lake. There wasn't another human being in sight.

"Wonderful," Peter continued. "There go my plans for sipping hot chocolate by the fire with a couple of snow bunnies."

Janine rolled her eyes. She had to agree, though, that this place was far from what she'd imagined. Well, they were here now, and with any luck they could bust the ghost quickly and make it back to the city before nightfall. She felt a snowflake land on her nose and looked up into the grey January sky.

Egon didn't seem to have noticed their surroundings; he was staring at the PKE meter in his hands, making slight adjustments to the dials. Suddenly the thing lit up and Egon blinked. "I think we'd better--"

A shrill screech echoed from behind them and Janine dove for the nearest snow bank, Egon right behind her. Shaking snow out of her eyes, she scanned the air around them, but the ghost had sped out of sight.

"Duck," Egon finished, helping Janine back to her feet.

"Thanks for the heads up, Spengs," said Peter, crawling out of the car, where he'd hidden himself. He pulled out their proton packs, handing one to Egon and another to Janine and helping her strap the thing on her back. They certainly hadn't grown any lighter since the last time she'd worn one.

"I think it went behind that cabin," said Egon, pulling out his thrower and pointing it at the cabin closest to the lake.

"Right," said Peter. He looked at Janine. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Sure thing."

They approached the cabin cautiously. When they reached the building, the two men exchanged a glance and Peter broke away from them, circling around to the rear of the cabin. Janine drew closer to Egon.

"Do you think--" she began, but Egon threw up a warning hand. Just then they heard a yelp of surprise from Peter and the sound of his thrower activating.

"Come on," said Egon, and Janine followed him, breaking into a run. As they rounded the cabin they saw Peter sprawled on his back on the ground. The ghost was above him, caught in the beam of his thrower but trying wildly to get free.

"Can I get a little help, here?" Peter grunted.

Just as Janine and Egon got their own weapons trained on the ghost, it gave a giant heave and broke away. It swooped down towards them, and Janine threw herself out of its path, but this time she wasn't quick enough. She felt a sharp sting across her right shoulder, and heard Egon cry out her name. The ghost tore past her with a shriek and zoomed away again.

Peter reached her first. "Janine, are you all right?" he asked with what she could have sworn was actual concern for her. She felt Egon behind her, gently removing the heavy pack from her back.

She looked down at her shoulder; the fabric of her jumpsuit and the sweater underneath it had been sliced open, and a jagged cut ran across her skin. It stung like crazy, but the bleeding had already stopped. "I'll be okay," she assured the two men. She reached for her discarded gear for a spare trap. "You guys catch it; I'll trap it."

Peter and Egon exchanged a doubtful look, but the ghost swooped over them again and they were all off and running. It led them on a merry chase through the woods around the campsite, through the ever-increasing snowfall, before Peter finally managed to catch it in his proton stream once more. This time Egon was quick to join him, and the ghost was stopped firmly in its tracks.

Okay, thought Janine. It was time for her to earn her pay. With only a brief glance at the ghost to judge the distance, she threw down the trap. It slid along the ice and firmly into place below the hovering, spluttering ghost. With a feeling of triumph, she stepped on the activator. Light and heat shone over her for a moment as the ghost was drawn into the trap. Janine gave a little skip of joy -- she'd done it!

But then she felt something give way under her feet, and she heard Egon shout something. Without realising it, she had let the ghost draw her out onto the lake, and the heat from the trap had weakened the ice. She heard a sharp crack, and Egon's voice again, sounding frantic now, then a sudden, burning cold, and everything went dark.

OoOoOoOoO

Her head was pounding, her stomach was roiling, and she'd never been so cold in her life. She didn't dare open her eyes; instead, she listened to the voices around her, wondering what exactly had happened.

"There's no way we can drive in this damned snow."

Snow, she remembered something about snow and ice and freezing water.

"We'll have to break into one of these cabins, get warmed up."

The sound of breaking glass. The crack of breaking ice....

"I left a note for Ray and Winston. They know where we went. They'll be here tomorrow."

The guys... A charming smile, blue eyes....

"God, Spengs, she's so cold!"

Cold, so very cold.

OoOoOoOoO

She woke up again, this time with full knowledge of what had happened. And of what an idiot she'd been to walk out onto a frozen lake without knowing how thick the ice was. Her body still felt numb with cold but she was out of the wind and snow, and this time she risked opening her eyes.

She looked up into concerned brown eyes.

"Janine!" said Peter. "Oh, thank God!" His hands gripped her shoulders; she could almost feel it.

Egon stopped whatever he'd been doing off to the side and turned to her, taking her hand. "You're going to be all right," he told her gently. "This cabin appears to be well insulated, and there's plenty of firewood."

"Yeah," added Peter. "Because God forbid they should have central heating in a shack like this. Now, sit tight. We'll have you all cozy and snug in no time."

That sounded like heaven. As she watched, Peter rummaged through the pile of supplies he'd scrounged from somewhere in the cabin and came up with a couple of wool blankets. Egon managed to get the logs in the fireplace lit; as the flames leaped up she almost wanted to crawl into them.

"Um, Janine," said Peter hesitantly. "Here comes the tough part."

She looked at him curiously. Was Peter Venkman actually blushing?

"We, um," he continued. "I'm going to have to... takeoffyourclothes."

She nodded, wanting nothing more than to have the icy, clammy wet material away from her skin. At this point, she didn't care who was around to see her, even if it was going to be a hardship for them.

"I don't look that bad," she whispered hoarsely.

Peter's eyes widened. "No! That's not what I..."

Then Egon said, "Oh, for Heaven's sake, Peter," and his firm, capable hands were on her clothing, removing it swiftly and just as swiftly covering her with one of the blankets, shifting her closer to the fire. It was a blessed relief to feel dry again, but she was still shivering uncontrollably. Peter was using the edge of another blanket to towel her hair dry, which helped, but it still wasn't quite enough. Her teeth were chattering, and she had to clench her jaw shut for fear that she'd bite her tongue.

Peter and Egon were still watching her worriedly. Then a determined look crossed Peter's face. "Right. There's only one thing left to do."

To her surprise, he reached for the zipper on his jumpsuit, unfastening it and peeling the blue fabric away. "Peter?" asked Egon, but Peter had already removed his sweater and was moving his hands towards the button of his jeans.

"Body heat," Peter explained, shucking his jeans and shorts and crawling under the blanket beside Janine.

She stared at him, half expecting Egon to protest, wondering why she wasn't protesting, herself. But the warmth of his body against her felt so wonderful that she nestled closer to him until they were pressed fully against each other. After Peter's initial gasp of breath at Janine's cold skin against him, the room was silent, apart from the crackling of the flames and... could it be?... the rustle of clothes. Then another warm body molded itself to Janine, this time from the back, warm skin in front of her, warm skin behind her, and Janine began to believe that she might not actually freeze to death before morning.

They stayed like that for a very long time, Peter's arms around her shoulders, Egon's hands at her waist. After a while, she became aware of small movements against her, soothing strokes against her skin leaving burning in their wake. A voice whispered her name into her hair, lips brushed along her shoulder blade, her neck. Bodies moved against her, and a mouth claimed her own. Cold? She'd never felt cold in her life! She was on fire now, and she let herself succumb to the flames....

OoOoOoOoO

When Janine woke for the third time, she was comfortable and warm, with only a lingering ache from her injured shoulder to remind her of the previous day's adventure. The cabin was quiet except for the slight whistle of the wind at the windows. Snow was still falling outside, but she was toasty warm. The dying fire cast a low light into the room, casting flickering shadows on the walls.

Somehow the three of them had shifted during the night, and Egon lay between her and Peter, sleeping deeply, his soft breath warm against her shoulder. She looked over and wasn't surprised to see Peter watching her, his eyes shining in the dim light.

"We thought we'd lost you," he said softly. "When Egon pulled you out of the lake. You were barely breathing. Egon was..." Peter smiled sadly. "Don't ever think that he doesn't care for you, Janine. Or me either, for that matter. Or any of us."

She smiled back. "I know, Peter."

"It's just... we don't..."

"Shh," she said, glancing down at where Peter's hand was clasped with Egon's. Her smile grew bittersweet. "I know that, too. I've known for a long time."

"I'm sorry," said Peter. "We should have told you." He looked down at the sleeping man, his expression softening in a way she never would have expected from him. "He never wanted to hurt you."

For the first time she understood what Egon saw in this man. She reached out and cupped Peter's cheek briefly, then settled back against Egon's side, pulling the blanket back up over the three of them.

"Happy birthday, Janine," Peter whispered.

Janine merely smiled, and went back to sleep.

 

 

 


End file.
